EcoWaste Coalition is a public interest network of community, church, school, environmental and health groups pursuing sustainable solutions
to waste, climate change and chemical issues facing the Philippines and the world.

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31 May 2016

An ecology group urged the participants of the ongoing
Brigada Eskwela nationwide to also spruce up the materials recovery facilities
(MRFs) in schools.

MRFs, also known as “ecology centers,” serve as repository for segregated
discards that can be reused or recycled, as well as a place to turn
biodegradable discards such as food and yard waste into fertilizer or soil
conditioner.

“The annual pre-school opening makeover naturally focuses on improving the
classrooms and other common areas where pupils spend most of their time,”
observed Ochie Tolentino, Zero Waste Campaigner of the EcoWaste Coalition.

“In this year’s Brigada Eskwela, we hope volunteers will also get assigned to
spruce up the school MRF or to construct one if there is none yet,” she said.

MRFs are generally consist of a redemption area for the recyclables, a
composting area for the biodegradables, an ecology garden and a display
area for recycled or repurposed items from discards.

Functional MRFs, the group noted, can play a very important role in instilling
environmental consciousness and responsibility among the members of the school
community, particularly on the ecological way of managing wastes.

“By sorting discards into few categories and keeping them clean and segregated
at the MRF, students are taught about the value of practising the 3Rs (reduce,
reuse, recycle) to prevent and reduce waste and conserve resources,” Tolentino
said.

“The school can later sell the collected recyclables to junk shops, providing
the school with extra income that can be put to good use such as for school
improvement projects,” she added

“Hopefully, they can bring this learning home and encourage their respective
families to make waste segregation a habit,” she pointed out.

Tolentino
underscored the need for schools to have a composting system that will cater to
their needs.

Depending on the volume of waste organics generated and the availability of
materials and space, the school can adopt a practical system for composting
their biodegradable wastes such as food and garden wastes.

“There is no
need for fancy composting bins. You can practically use whatever
container is available to compost your biodegradable discards from broken
pails, clay pots, old drums and rice sacks or through pits and windrows,” she
said.

The EcoWaste Coalition reminded school administrators and teachers to actively
promote the implementation of the Department of Education Order No. 5, Series
of 2014.

Among other things, the said directive states that "every school shall
practice waste management principles, such as (waste) minimization,
specifically resource conservation and recovery, segregation at source,
reduction, recycling, reuse and composting, in order to promote environmental
awareness and action among the students."

"We look forward to supporting DepEd's efforts under the Duterte
administration to nurture a waste-free and toxic-free learning environment for
all Filipino children," the group said.

30 May 2016

The EcoWaste Coalition, an advocate
for a lead-safe school environment, exhorted the principals, teachers and
parents to be vigilant to ensure lead-free school makeovers during the
week-long Brigada Eskwela starting today.

The chemical and waste watch group has partnered with the Sto.Cristo Elementary
School in Bago Bantay, Quezon City to drum up awareness and compliance to
government directives on lead paint.

Department of Education Memorandum No. 85, Series of 2016 instructs schools to
use lead-free paints in line with the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources Administrative Order 2013-24 which sets a phase-out deadline for
leaded architectural, decorative and household paints by January 1, 2017.

To stir up interest and support for a lead-safe school environment, EcoWaste
Coalition volunteers joined the parade prior to the cleanup drive donning giant
“paint cans marked with the instruction “choose lead-safe paints” and holding
mini-classrooms tagged as “lead-free school.”

“We urge Brigada Eskwela participants to opt for water-based over oil-based
paint whenever possible. By and large, water-based paints have not
contained lead. If oil-based paints are required, be sure to look for
lead-free brands,” said Thony Dizon, Coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition’s Project
Protect.

“Lead-free paint is a must for decorating schools and other places frequented
by children to curb a major preventable source of childhood lead exposure,” he
emphasized.

Dizon clarified that surfaces painted with leaded paint will wear down and
break off over time, dispersing chip and dust containing lead, a brain-damaging
chemical, that young children can ingest on inhale.

He also cautioned Brigada Eskwela volunteers from dry sanding or dry scraping
painted surfaces that might contain lead as this will spread huge amounts of
dust in the surroundings that may be contaminated with lead.

Citing health studies, the EcoWaste Coalition warned that children are most
susceptible to lead paint exposure, which can result in lifelong health
impacts, including developmental delays, learning disabilities, decreased
attention span, hearing, vision and muscle coordination problems, and
behavioral issues.

According to the World Health Organization, “there is no known level of lead
exposure that is considered safe,” stressing “lead is now known to produce a
spectrum of injury” at chronic and lower levels of exposure, which “for the
most part are permanent, irreversible and untreatable by modern medicine.”

For waste-free and toxic-free school renovations, the EcoWaste Coalition
requested Briada Eskwela participants to observe the following tips:

1. Separate discards at
source to keep the volume of residual trash to the minimum.

2. Do not burn discards; reuse, recycle or compost them. 3. Go for reusable or recyclable containers for volunteers’ drinks and
foods to reduce trash.

4. Do not dispose of busted mercury-containing fluorescent lamps in
ordinary trash.

28 May 2016

A waste and pollution watch group urged
participants of this year’s Brigada Eskwela on May 30 to June 4 to clean and
beautify the country’s public schools in a way that will not put human health
and the environment at risk.

As schools gear up for the annual sprucing up, the EcoWaste Coalition reminded
participants to ensure that wastes collected from the week-long clean-up drive
are not burned and that lead-free paints are solely used for school
renovations.

“Burnish trash and using leaded paint must be avoided all the time as these
practices can contaminate the school environment with health-damaging
substances,” said Thony Dizon, Coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalition’s Project
Protect.

The group reminded school principals, teachers and the general public that open
burning is prohibited under the Republic Act 9003, the Ecological Solid Waste
Management Act and that the use of lead-free paints is prescribed under the
Department of Education Memorandum No. 85, Series of 2016.

Unknown to many, the burning of discards discharges microscopic toxins that can
trigger headaches, cause eye, throat and skin irritation, weaken respiratory
functions, cause asthma and heart attacks, bring about reproductive disorders,
and even result in cancers, the group pointed out.

On the other hand, coating school walls, doors, windows, chairs, tables and
other fixtures with leaded paints creates a lead poisoning hazard as the
painted surfaces will chip and deteriorate over time, dispersing
lead-containing paint flake and dust that can enter the human body via
ingestion or inhalation, the group added.

According to health experts, the brain damage caused by chronic and low-level
exposure to lead, a potent neurotoxin, is irreversible and untreatable.

Disturbing lead painted surfaces through dry sanding or dry scraping will
create enormous amounts of lead dust and should also be avoided, the EcoWaste
Coalition likewise said.

Instead of simply mixing or setting them on fire, the group urged Brigada
Eskwela partakers to recycle or reuse the non-biodegradable discards and to
compost the biodegradable discards.

As for the paints, the group advised Brigada Eskwela volunteers to use
water-based paints whenever possible and, if oil-based paints are required, to
choose lead-free brands.

The group offered the following tips towards a waste-free and toxic-free
Brigada Eskwela:

1. Opt for reusable or recyclable containers for volunteers’ drinks and foods
to reduce trash.

2. Separate discards at source to keep the volume of residual trash
to the minimum.

3. Reuse, recycle and compost discards instead of burning
them.

4. Do not dispose of busted mercury-containing fluorescent lamps in
ordinary trash.

A waste and pollution watchdog urged presumptive President Rodrigo Duterte to
make good on his promise to ban firecrackers and fireworks nationwide.

The EcoWaste Coalition, a civil society partner of the Department of Health in the
yearly “Iwas Paputok” campaign, expressed optimism that the Davao City’s ban on
firecrackers and fireworks would finally get replicated this year in towns and
cities across the country.

“We want a comprehensive ban on firecrackers and fireworks to save lives and to
protect the climate, the environment and the public health from hazardous
emissions and wastes,” said Aileen Lucero, Coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition.

“It’s high time that the Philippines, a climate hotspot, bid goodbye to New
Year pollution and mayhem,” she said.

Several other groups have joined the EcoWaste Coalition in manifesting support
for a national ban on firecrackers and fireworks under the Duterte presidency,
including the Bangon Kalikasan Movement, Concerned Citizens Advocating Philippine
Environmental Sustainability, Health Futures Foundation, Health Justice,
Interface Development Interventions, Kinaiyahan Foundation, Mother Earth
Foundation, Philippine Animal Welfare Society and the Philippine Medical
Association – Committee on Environmental Health and Ecology.

“Like the Davaoeños, we can usher in the New Year in a non-wasteful
fashion through non-deafening, non-injurious and non-toxic noisemakers and
through the conduct of fun-filled ‘kantahan,’ ‘salu-salo’ and more in our homes
and neighborhoods,” Lucero said.

The massive detonation of both legal and illegal pyrotechnics to herald the New
Year goes against the basic state policies of protecting human health and the
ecosystems as enshrined in the Constitution, the EcoWaste Coalition pointed
out.

On the other hand, banning firecrackers and fireworks will help in meeting the
objectives of the Clean Air Act, Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, Clean
Water Act, Climate Change Act, Animal Welfare Act and other environmental and
health laws..

The EcoWaste Coalition cited eight reasons why the Filipino people should rally
behind a national ban on firecrackers and fireworks as announced by Duterte:

1. Firecrackers and fireworks
cause serious, if not fatal, injuries to users and non-users alike.

26 May 2016

The EcoWaste Coalition, a waste and pollution
watch group, today lauded the Department of Education (DepEd) for acting on its
request to ensure that only lead-safe paints will be used in all schools during
the Brigada Eskwela next week and beyond.

On Tuesday, Education Secretary Armin Luistro issued DepEd Memorandum No. 85,
series of 2016 stating “the use of lead-free paints in schools must be observed
at all times, especially during the conduct of activities related to Brigada
Eskwela and other preparations for the opening of classes.”

The EcoWaste Coalition had earlier requested Luistro to issue a directive that
will make it mandatory for schools to use only lead-safe coatings for painting
school facilities and amenities.

“We urge school principals, teachers and all Brigada Eskwela supporters to take
DepEd’s directive to heart as this will help in preventing childhood lead
exposure through the ingestion and inhalation of lead-containing paint, dust
and soil,” stated Aileen Lucero, Coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition.

“Please specify to your benefactors to donate paints with no added lead that
are safe to use for school interiors, exteriors, chairs and tables,” she
suggested.

“It is our shared responsibility to remove preventable sources of lead exposure
in our children’s surroundings such as lead-containing paints,” she added,
stressing “there is no known level of lead exposure that is considered safe” as
stated by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The group likewise cautioned Brigada Eskwela participants against disturbing
old paints that might contain lead, emphasizing that dry sanding or scraping
can generate huge quantities of lead dust that is detrimental to human health.

Citing information from the Global Alliance to
Eliminate Lead Paint (GAELP), the DepEd directive warned that “childhood
lead poisoning can have lifelong health impacts, including learning
disabilities, anemia and disorders in coordination, visual, spatial and
language skills.”

GAELP, a cooperative venture of the WHO and the United Nations Environment
Programme, includes the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR),
the EcoWaste Coalition and the Pacific Paint (Boysen) Philippines, Inc. among
its partners.

The EcoWaste Coalition is the civil society partner of the DENR and the
Philippine Association of Paint Manufacturers (PAPM) in promoting effective
compliance to the country’s phase-out deadlines for leaded-decorative paints by
January 2017 and leaded-industrial paints by January 2019.

On Monday, members of the EcoWaste Coalition will participate in the Brigada
Eskwela activities at Sto. Cristo Elementary School in Bago Bantay, Quezon City
to help with the school repair and maintenance, as well as to drum up support
for a lead-safe school environment.

Meanwhile, the EcoWaste Coalition thanked Senators Chiz Escudero, Loren Legarda
and Grace Poe and incoming Senators Risa Hontiveros and Migz Zubiri who, along
with over 100 health professionals, educators, environmentalists, religious
leaders and trade unionists, have supported the group’s call for Luistro
“to declare the entire educational system as a lead-free zone by adopting a
lead-safe paint procurement policy and by carefully addressing lead paint
hazards.”

In her letter to Luistro, Legarda pointed out that “various studies have shown
that lead exposure is highly detrimental to the health and early development of
young children and could possibly result in permanent and irreversible
effects.”

“In this regard, I join the EcoWaste Coalition’s call to adopt a lead-free
procurement policy for all materials to be used in the construction and
maintenance of educational institutions,” she said.

DENR Assistant Secretary Juan Miguel
Cuna, who is concurrent Director of the Environmental Management Bureau, also
wrote to Luistro conveying the same message.

Some of the
country’s foremost health organizations have likewise backed the call for a
lead-safe school environment, including the Philippine Medical
Association – Committee on Environmental Health and Ecology, Child Neurology
Society of the Philippines, Philippine Academy of Family Physicians,
Philippine Pediatric Society, Philippine Society for Developmental
and Behavioral Pediatrics and the Philippine Society of Clinical and
Occupational Toxicology.

24 May 2016

A waste and pollution watchdog group
advised the public to steer clear of school supplies containing cancer-causing
and endocrine disrupting chemicals as consumers take advantage of
“back-to-school” promotional sales.

The EcoWaste Coalition made the suggestion at a press briefing held today to
announce the test results of some items that the group bought and sent to SGS,
an international testing company, for phthalate analysis. Toxicologist
Dr. Erle Castillo was on hand to shed light on potential health effects of
phthalates to children's health.

The group specifically told consumers to avoid school supplies made of
polyvinyl chloride plastic, or those marked “PVC,” “V” or “3”, which may
contain elevated concentrations of toxic phthalates (pronounced as THAL-ates).

Phthalates, a class of plasticizers added to PVC to render it soft and
flexible, are known to disrupt the body’s hormonal systems. DEHP,
one of the two types of phthalates found in the samples, is classified as a “probable
human carcinogen” by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Phthalates are absorbed by the human body through
ingestion, inhalation and skin absorption.

Out
of five samples of seemingly harmless school supplies obtained from retail
outlets in Divisoria, Quiapo and Cubao, four were found positive for toxic
phthalates DEHP and/or DINP, namely:

According to the Department of Health Administrative Order
2009-0005-A as amended in 2011, phthalates DEHP, DBP and BBP in
concentrations exceeding 0.1% are banned in the manufacturing of
toys. On the other hand, phthalates DINP, DIDP and DNOP above 0.1%
are banned in toys that can be placed in a child’s mouth.

“DEHP and DINP are restricted in children’s toys not only in the Philippines,
but also in Europe and the US. So why are we finding them in very
high concentrations in school supplies, which, like toys, are directly handled
and used by children?,” asked Thony Dizon, Coordinator of the EcoWaste
Coalition’s Project Protect.

Last year, the group reported finding high levels of DEHP and/or DINP in two
backpacks, two raingears and one lunch bag, as well as in two kiddie boxing
gloves and two swimming toys.

"The
unregulated use of PVC-based children’s products is not only a public health
issue, but an environmental one as well. Burning PVC products at the
end of their useful lives will generate extremely toxic pollutants known as
dioxins,” Dizon warned.

“For the health of our kids and the ecosystems, we ask our parents to buy
PVC-free school supplies. At the same time, we ask the government to
extend the ban on toxic phthalates in toys to all children’s products,
including childcare articles and school supplies,” he added.

According to a booklet published by the Endocrine Society and IPEN, “phthalate
exposure is linked to genital abnormalities in boys, reduced sperm counts,
decreased ‘male typical’ play in boys, endometriosis and elements of metabolic
disruption, including obesity.”

Information from the US EPA stated, “children have been reported as having the
highest exposures to phthalates, and that their exposures are often greater
than those in adults…due to increased intakes of food, water and air on a
bodyweight basis, as well as children’s unique exposure pathways such as
mouthing of objects and ingestion of non-food items.”

To
prevent exposures to phthalates via school supplies, the
EcoWaste Coalition advised consumers to heed the following
“Back-to-School Guide to PVC-Free School Supplies”:

1. Avoid school supplies made vinyl plastic or PVC
plastic, or those marked “3,” “V” or”PVC.”

2. Avoid backpacks with shiny plastic designs as they often contain
PVC and may contain lead.

The EcoWaste Coalition also appealed to all manufacturers of school supplies
and other children’s products to switch to non-PVC materials and to disclose
the chemical ingredients of their products, as well as to provide health and
safety instructions and warnings for the guidance of consumers.

23 May 2016

A new interactive map shows that lead
exposure costs the Philippines more than US$ 15 billion (almost PHP
700 billion) annually. This cost exceeds the over US$ 675 millionthe Philippines received in net official development
assistance (ODA) in 2014.

The interactive map “Economic Costs of Childhood Lead Exposure in Low-and
Middle-Income Countries” was developed by New York University School of
Medicine, Department of Pediatrics (NYU) and released today at the United
Nations Environment Assembly meeting being held in Nairobi, Kenya. It can be
accessed at: nyulmc.org/pediatricleadexposure.

“Children’s developing brains are permanently harmed by exposure to lead. One
key impact is reduction in IQ score, which is correlated with decreases in
lifetime earning potential. For the nation as a whole population-wide
reductions in IQ means greater social costs and reduced intellectual capital,
and other factors that adversely impact the Philippine economy, as the NYU map
clearly shows,” said Aileen Lucero, Coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition.

According to the World Health Organization,
"There is no known safe blood lead concentration.” When a young
child is exposed to lead, the harm to her or his nervous system makes it more
likely that the child will have difficulties in school and engage in impulsive
and violent behavior. Lead exposure in young children is also linked to
increased rates of hyperactivity, inattentiveness, failure to graduate from
high school, conduct disorder, juvenile delinquency, drug use, and
incarceration.

According to the NYU researchers: “One of the most important things we can do
to decrease children's exposure to lead in low- and middle-income
countries is to ensure lead is no longer used in household paint and other
paints to which children may be exposed (such as paints on playground
equipment).”

In 2015, the EcoWaste Coalition released the report “Lead in New Enamel
Household Paints in the Philippines,” which analyzed the lead content in paints
sold in the local market. That study found 97 out of 140 enamel
decorative paints (69 percent of the samples) contained lead concentrations
above the regulatory standard of 90 parts per million (ppm), which may render
young children and pregnant women at risk of lead poisoning. Sixty-three
of these samples contained dangerously high lead concentrations greater than
10,000 ppm, with one yellow quick-dry enamel paint containing the highest total
lead content at 153,000 ppm.

DENR Administrative Order 2013-24 establishes a 90 ppm limit for lead in paint
and provides for a phaseout deadline for leaded decorative paints by December
2016 and leaded industrial paints by December 2019.

“The research and the map released today clearly demonstrate that lead exposure
greatly erodes the gains from development aid and that sustainable development
will be severely hindered as long as childhood exposure to lead continues,”
Lucero said.

Worldwide the cost of lead exposure, according to the NYU research, is $977
billion international dollars with economic losses equal to:

· $142.3
billion in Latin America and the Caribbean (2.04% of GDP in that region), and

· $699.9
billion in Asia (1.88% of GDP in that region).

To prepare the interactive map, researchers
assessed the neurodevelopmental impacts of lead, assessed as decrements (or
reductions) in intelligence quotient (IQ) points caused by lead and how those
reductions translated into decreases in lifetime earning potential, assessed as
lost lifetime economic productivity (LEP) in each country examined.

Additional comparison information to developed countries and to ODA dollars is
also provided, along with links to the full report and supplemental
information.

The EcoWaste Coalition is an environmental organization pursuing socially just
and sustainable solutions to waste, chemical and climate issues in the
Philippines, and is a member of the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint
(GAELP).

IPEN is a network of non-government organizations working in more than 100 countries
to reduce and eliminate the harm to human health and the environment from toxic
chemicals. IPEN is a member of the Advisory Group of
GAELP, which seeks the elimination of lead in paint by 2020.

18 May 2016

IDIS representatives submit "Sustainable Davao City Movement's 8-Point Environmental Agenda" and the EcoWaste Coalition's "13-Point Agenda on Wastes and Toxics" to Mr. Peter Tiu Laviña, spokesperson and member of the Duterte Transition Committee

The EcoWaste Coalition, an
environmental organization working towards a zero waste and toxic-free Philippines, has propounded the following 13-point action plan to ease the
country’s uphill battle against wastes and toxics under the administration of
presumptive President Rodrigo Duterte. The EcoWaste Coalition through its Davao City-based affiliate Interface for
Development Interventions (IDIS) will submit today its proposed “Action
Agenda on Wastes and Toxics” to Peter Tiu Laviña, spokesperson and member of the Duterte
Transition Committee.

1. Appoint a genuine pro-environment and pro-people Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary with an exemplary track
record in environmental protection.

2. Announce the government’s program to determinedly combat waste and
pollution through Zero Waste strategies and practices sans incineration at his
first State of the Nation Address (SONA).

3. Convene and chair the first meeting of the National Solid Waste Management
Commission (NSWMC) and set a comprehensive Zero Waste agenda to reduce the
volume and toxicity of the country’s waste.

4. Instruct the DENR Secretary to take full leadership and
responsibility in ensuring that the Zero Waste agenda is put into operation by
the entire government machinery.

5. Order a participatory review and analysis of where the public
funds for managing wastes go and recommend priority use of taxpayers’ money to
support and advance the Zero Waste agenda.

6. Ensure the proper release and use of the allocated budget from the
General Appropriations Act of 2016 for capacity building programs towards the
effective implementation of Republic Act 9003, the Ecological Solid Waste
Management Act.

7. Make the NSWMC and all its members accountable for the performance of
their responsibilities towards the effective enforcement of R.A. 9003,
including providing quarterly submission of accomplishment reports that should
be publicly available.

8. Stop all undertakings that are in breach of the incineration ban under
R.A. 8749 and R.A. 9003, including the ongoing formulation of “waste-to-energy”
guidelines by the NSWMC.

9. Suspend the development and implementation of
proposed coal power plants in the pipeline and so-called waste-to-energy
facilities. Instead, prioritize the development and mainstreaming of
clean and renewable energy projects to meet the country’s projected
energy requirements.

10. Order the NSWMC to fast track the implementation of the “National
Framework and Strategy on the Role of the Informal Sector in Waste Management,”
including ensuring the safety of workers handling electronic wastes.

11. Draw up the government's legislative agenda for the environment,
which should, among others, include the passage of laws a) banning
plastic bags, b) restricting toxic chemicals in packaging, c)
establishing extended producer responsibility for electrical and electronic
equipment, and for packaging, and d) ensuring public’s right to know through
the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register.

12. Ensure early ratification and implementation of major
multilateral environmental and chemical agreements such as the Paris
Agreement on Climate Change, Minamata Convention on Mercury and the Basel
Convention Ban Amendment.

13. Order the re-export of Canadian garbage back to its origin and
initiate policy reforms to effectively block foreign waste dumping in the
country, including ratifying the Basel Ban Amendment.

17 May 2016

A non-profit watch group for toxic chemicals in
products and wastes has again alerted consumers against buying school supplies
laced with lead, a brain-damaging chemical.

For the fifth year in a row, the EcoWaste Coalition warned against toxic lead
in school supplies as part of its annual back-to-school campaign for children’s
health and safety.

For this year’s campaign, the group released its findings today in front of
children and their parents at a day care center in Tatalon, Quezon City with a
lecturette on childhood lead poisoning and prevention by Dr. Erle Castillo, a
toxicologist.

Lead, a hazardous substance linked to learning and behavioral problems, is
prohibited in the production of school supplies as per DENR Administrative
Order 2013-24, or the “Chemical Control Order for Lead and Lead Compounds,”
which the group pushed to prevent and control childhood lead exposure.

“Forty-three percent of the 75 items that we screened for toxic lead had lead
levels that should make parents, who care for their children’s health and
well-being, worried,” said Thony Dizon, Coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition’s
Project Protect.

“On the other hand, 57 percent of the samples were found to be lead-free,
indicating the availability of alternative products that are safe to use by
children,” he pointed out.

As Rodrigo Duterte, the presumptive president, is about to take over the reins
of the government by June 30, the EcoWaste Coalition expressed the need for the
next administration to do more to curb the sale of school supplies and other
children’s products laden with lead and other harmful chemicals.

“We hope, in the next six years of the Duterte presidency, consumers will no
longer worry that they are buying poison products for their children and that
they are not sending hazardous substances to school with their kids,” Dizon
said.

“As a doting grandfather, we believe that Duterte will make it sure that only
non-toxic school supplies, toys and other children’s products are offered for
sale by manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers,” he added.

Using a portable X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) device, the EcoWaste Coalition
detected lead in 32 out of 75 school supplies -purchased from formal and
informal retailers in Divisoria and Quiapo, Manila, Monumento, Caloocan City
and Cubao, Quezon City - in the scale of 201 to 87,000 parts per million (ppm),
way above the regulatory limit of 90 ppm.

Topping this year’s “dirty dozen” school supplies with lead above 5,000 ppm
were:

The group noted that the Food and Drugs Administration in 2014
banned “Artex Fine Water Colors” for containing high lead content as reported
to the agency by the EcoWaste Coalition.

While the four samples of crayons tested negative for lead, the group pointed
out that their packaging carried no toxicity warning and “non-toxic” label as
required by the Department of Trade and Industry.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has listed lead as one of the “ten
chemicals of major public health concern,” contributing to about 600,000 new
cases of children with intellectual disabilities every year with the highest
burden in developing regions.

“Children are particularly vulnerable to the neurotoxic effects of lead, and
even relatively low levels

of exposure can cause serious and in some cases
irreversible neurological damage,” the WHO said.

Lead, the WHO further said, is “a cumulative toxicant that affects multiple
body systems, including the neurologic, hematologic, gastrointestinal,
cardiovascular, and renal systems.”

“There is no known level of lead exposure that is considered safe,” the WHO
warned.

Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, prohibits the
open burning of solid waste and provides for a fine of P300 to P1,000 or
imprisonment for one to 15 days, or both.

“The law has banned this old-fashioned form of getting rid of trash because it
destroys valuable resources that can be recycled and seriously harms human
health and the environment," Lucero said.

“Open burning emits harmful chemicals into the air we inhale, including
particulate matter, heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants or POPS that
would eventually contaminate the soil, water and even the food we eat,” she
explained.

Among these highly toxic pollutants is a class of byproduct chemicals known as
dioxins, which can result from the burning of trash containing chlorine, the
EcoWaste Coaliton said.

Campaign materials such as paper and plastic campaign banners, posters and
fliers contain varying amounts of chlorine and other chemicals, coatings and
inks, the group pointed out.

Dioxins are dangerous even at very low levels and have been linked to grave
health problems like cancer, the group warned.

“Recycling the tons of campaign materials instead of burning them will help
prevent the formation and release of dioxins and many other dangerous
pollutants,” Lucero emphasized.

The Stockholm Convention on POPs, which the Philippines ratified
in 2004, gives priority to “the promotion of the recovery and recycling of
waste and of substances generated” to prevent the creation and discharge of
dioxins and other by-product POPs, the EcoWaste Coalition added.

Last Tuesday, the group conducted a clean-up drive in Quezon City and showed how common campaign
materials can be creatively recycled.

For example, paper posters can be used as book and notebook covers, envelopes
and folders, sample ballots can be made into notepads, and paper fans can
become bookmarks and picture frames.

According to the group, plastic tarpaulins can be converted into bags and other
functional items not intended for children's use or for food contact
applications due to their cadmium and lead content.

10 May 2016

Without wasting time, members of the EcoWaste Coalition and their community partners got themselves dirty and sweaty to clear an area in Project 6, Quezon City of used election campaign materials.

“We have partnered with the local barangay council for this clean-up activity to motivate election winners and losers to take responsibility in removing their publicity posters at once,” stated Aileen Lucero, Coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition.

“Now that the campaign is over and the electorates have made their judgement, we urge all candidates and their backers to switch to the clean-up mode and bring their campaign materials down,” she said.

“We specifically request the winning President, governors and city and municipal mayors to hit the ground running and be the forerunners in tidying up the post-election mess,” she emphasized.

“Please dispatch clean-up brigades to clear major as well as secondary roads of campaign remnants, including posters on the walls, trees, cables and lamp posts. Government workers will need all your support to finish off the massive clearing operations at the earliest time,” she said.

At the clean-up drive held outside the Project 6 Elementary School, the eco-volunteers, armed with cutters, scissors and pliers, removed paper and plastic posters hanging all over the place.

To reduce the volume of campaign discards for disposal, the clean-up participants carefully sorted them to retrieve items that can still be reused, repurposed or recycled.

“It might appear easier and quicker if we just mix and throw the removed materials altogether or, worst, set them on fire. But, that is not the ecological way to spruce up our sullied surroundings. Open dumping and open burning aggravate environmental pollution and are, in fact, forbidden under the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act,” Lucero said.

“We create garbage by mixing up the used campaign materials. We avoid creating garbage by keeping them segregated into few categories: “paper” for the paper posters and sample ballots, “plastic” for the plastic banners and posters, “PVC” for plastic tarpaulins, and “garbage” for residual wastes,” she pointed out.

“Instead of dumping or burning them, we can sell the segregated discards to junk shops or find appropriate uses for them,” she said.

To show how some campaign materials can be creatively reused or repurposed, EcoWaste volunteers conducted a DIY (do it yourself) side event coinciding with the clean-up drive.

The group also put on display various functional items that can be made from used tarpaulins, including aprons, organizers and assorted types of bags and purses.

In addition, tarpaulins can also be repurposed for non-food applications such as awnings for homes and stores and as a protective shield against rain or sun for jeepneys, tricycles and pedicabs.

Among the groups that participated in the post-election clean-up and recycling drive were the Barangay Project 6 Council, Office of Mrs. Beth Delarmente, Junior Chamber International-Quezon City (Diamante) and the EcoWaste Coalition Secretariat.

A waste and pollution watchdog group warned
against littering as millions of voters troop to the polling stations today.

Fearing repeat of unrestrained littering that marred past elections, the
EcoWaste Coalition made a last-minute appeal to the public to go out and vote
without defiling our shard environment.

“On this historic day for democracy, let us treat our
surroundings with more respect and litter no more,” said Aileen Lucero,
Coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition.

“We will not get tired of reminding ourselves not to litter; hope springs
eternal,” she added.

Specifically, she requested the voting public to keep the polling precincts and
their immediate vicinities litter-free.

“Please do not discard sample ballots, the most notorious litter on election
day, in polling places or on the streets,” Lucero said.

Other commonly littered items include cigarette filters, candy and snack
wrappers, food and beverage containers and plastic bags, the group noted.

“Election day is not a field day for litterbugs,” Lucero emphasized.

Littering, she reminded, is a prohibited act under R.A. 9003 or the Ecological
Solid Waste Management Act, which provides for a punishment of P300 to P1,000
fine or one to 15-day community service, or both.

Meanwhile, the EcoWaste Coalition, a non-partisan group, lauded the massive miting
de avance of team Duterte-Cayetano last Saturday at RizalPark
for keeping trash at a minimum.

“Thumbs up to the organizers and their supporters for their commendable act of picking up the trash after the event and for not passing the burden to the park sweepers. Thanks to the waste pickers for retrieving the recyclables, too,” Lucero said.

“People voluntarily picking up litter was a sight to behold,” she said.

Based on reports gathered by the group, the rallies organized by team Poe-Escudero at Plaza Miranda and team Roxas-Robredo at the Quezon Memorial Circle were blighted with trash.

About Me

is a public interest network of community, church, school, environmental and health groups pursuing sustainable solutions to waste, climate change and chemical issues facing the Philippines and the world.